When’s a driver on the hook for tow fees?

Heidi Donlon was in one of those miserable situations any motorist dreads.

She was driving home from her job as a bank teller in heavy rush hour traffic and pouring rain. She had just crossed over the 112th Street Bridge from Lansingburgh into Cohoes and was approaching the Ontario Street intersection with Route 787 when her 2004 Ford Escape quit.

“All of a sudden it died,” recalls the 28-ear-old Rensselaer County native.

Donlon was stuck there in the right lane with no shoulder available to pull out of traffic. She used her cellphone to call her mother-in-law, who called AAA and then came to wait with her at the scene, pulling up behind Donlon and turning on her emergency flashers, since Donlon’s were dimming.

Shortly, a Cohoes police sergeant arrived, turned on his flashing lights and insisted on calling for a tow from whatever local garage was on the city’s duty roster that week.

At this point, the accounts of what happened begin to differ.

I consider some of the differences to be explained by imperfect communication and differing perspectives at a difficult time. Others are impossible to reconcile from here without more information and evidence than I have.

Heidi Donlon says that since a free tow was in the works, she wanted to call to learn if arrival was imminent so the city tow would not be necessary. She says AAA had promised arrival by 6 p.m., but also had made her a priority and would be there “as soon as possible.”

Donlon, who had insufficient cash to pay for a tow and no credit card, was optimistic that AAA would be there sooner than 6 p.m. But Cohoes Police Sgt. Todd Walden recalls being really concerned about the potential 45-minute wait until then.

“I explained that we could not stay on the main roadway like that, waiting for AAA,” Walden told me.

Walden said he does not recall any request from Donlon to check on the status of the AAA truck; Donlon says the officer simply foreclosed the possibility of using the AAA tow and ignored her when she said she wanted to make the call.

No one disputes that it was about the worst place and time possible for Donlon’s car to break down. A few miles up the Hudson, the Waterford Bridge was closed due to flooding that day — Dec. 1 — and many commuters headed for Saratoga County were, instead, driving into Cohoes on Ontario Street.

There are differing recollections of when the two tow trucks arrived, too.

Donlon says they arrived at virtually the same time, with AAA approaching from behind and the city-summoned truck backing up to her car from in front. Walden and the owner of Berdar Auto Service, the garage on duty that week, say the Berdar driver was there first and preparing to hoist Donlon’s vehicle when AAA arrived.

Ultimately, it was agreed that the AAA truck would tow the vehicle to Donlon’s mechanic in Lansingburgh, but Donlon was angry and confused when she was required to pay the Berdar’s driver $60 ($64.80 with tax) simply for showing up, since she had arranged for another tow and was using it.

“I feel I basically got extorted,” she told me. “The police forced me to spend money that I don’t have for nothing.”

She says the officer told her she’d have to pay the Cohoes tow driver and if she didn’t, her vehicle would be impounded. She also says she was told it would cost another $250 to tow her Escape a short distance to the garage and $5 per mile if she wanted it towed elsewhere.

Walden and Heslin say any discussion of payment was between the motorist and the driver from Berdar’s, and that police play no role except to summon a truck from the company on duty.

Berdar said the $60 fee was half the usual charge for his driver to come in after hours, pick up a tow truck, go to the scene and deliver the vehicle to the garage.

“If we had towed the vehicle to my location, it would have been $120, not $250,” he said. “Something is not right with the $250. …The $60 was a fee to cover the service that we were asked to provide to the city of Cohoes.”

Still, Berdar said he is willing to refund the $60 to Donlon.

“I have no problem refunding her money,” he said. “Sixty dollars is not going to break me or my company if she feels she was taken advantage of in any way, which she wasn’t.”

I think that’s about as close as I’m going to come to resolving this one, but it’s frustrating because I still don’t know exactly how this incident went down.

In a development that should not have surprised me, controversies involving motorists and tow trucks have become a bread-and-butter topic for this column.

Getting one’s car towed when stranded is a costly, inconvenient and aggravating jolt that comes at an incredibly vulnerable time. When the tow truck arrives, any motorist can be over a barrel.

Meanwhile, towing cars is a livelihood for some garage owners and their employees.

Albany has a city ordinance to help protect motorists from predatory towing practices and set some universal standards for companies that do contract towing for the city. I was reminded of this last month by Albany activist Annette De Lavallade, who wanted to share her experience with Advocate readers when she left me a voice mail shortly before her death.

After a car registered in De Lavallade’s name was towed, she was charged more than $300, including $175 for the tow and $55 per day for storage — far beyond the maximums set out in city’s ordinance.

She later received a $181 refund with help from police officer Curt Ricci of traffic safety. He told me Friday that De Lavallade’s car was towed from I-787 at the request of State Police by a garage that is not among the city’s contractors.

Since the car was towed from within the city of Albany, though, Ricci argued that the city-set charges had do apply: $100 for a simple tow or $120 with a dolly or flatbed and $35 per day for storage after the first 24 hours.

Each of the five contract garages on the Albany Police Department towing call list pays the city $25 for each car that is towed and later retrieved by the owner, according to the arrangement.

The Cohoes situation is more informal. Four garages share on-call duty, with each taking one week a month, Heslin said. It’s a long-standing tradition, and the city does not receive any portion of the towing fees paid by motorists.

Heslin and Mayor John McDonald say that, given the much smaller volume of towing needed in Cohoes, the current system works well. Any allegations of overcharging are investigated, Heslin said.

“Outside of DWI stops, it’s very rare” that police need to call a tow truck, McDonald said. “The frequency had not risen to the level that we have felt the responsibility to regulate it.”

I hear what they’re saying, but I think Cohoes would be well-advised to set out some basic rules to help ensure consistent treatment by the garages and protections for motorists.

City police officers are essentially setting up these transactions and then washing their hands of them at a time when motorists are in no position to say no. Even if the need is infrequent, there should be consistent rules in place for the sake of all parties involved.

Another towing case updated

The owners of Hudson Valley Plaza in Troy, to which Ryan Smith’s car was towed in September, have arranged for Smith to be reimbursed for the $165 cost of the tow.

Smith, a student at HVCC across the street, was adamant that he parked in the lot only while doing business at a bank branch and eating lunch at a Wendy’s at the plaza, but the towing company that took his car away insisted it had been parked there all morning while he was at classes.

Smith had receipts from a bank in East Greenbush and a store at Crossgates Mall to back up his claim that he was not there, but officials with Nigro Companies Inc. and Jake’s Towing of Albany were not convinced.

Steven J. Powers, a Nigro vice president, eventually instructed the towing company to send Smith a check. But in an e-mail to Smith, he still maintained that “the actual facts really do not bear out your story fully.”

Powers went on to chastise Smith for his reaction to the incident. “Please also take this as a life experience,” he wrote. “… had you addressed this incident in a reasonable manner … with respect and without idle threats and expletives, this outcome would have been swift and long since over.”

19 Responses

While I can certainly understand Ms. Donlon’s frustration, and I can sympathize with her predicament, blocking traffic during rush hour is not something that can be taken lightly. What if her car caused an accident behind her? I remember that night vividly and since I live in that area as well, traffic was tied up due to the Waterford bridge being closed and I was forced to take Ontario St as well. I can only assume AAA was inundated with calls and since they serve the entire Capital Region would not have been able to get there as quickly as a local tow company. This was an “emergency” situation and had to be dealt with accordingly. The police officer’s time was being utilized to ensure she, her car, and other drivers were safe.

Regarding Mr. Powers’ rather condescending and grudging response to Ryan Smith’s towing experience at Hudson Valley plaza: I do not feel comfortable parking at Hudson Valley Plaza anymore and will not do any business at any of the tenants there, and will not encourage anyone else to do the same. This unacceptable response from a Nigro Companies VP shows contempt for customers of his tenants, and suggests that this practice will continue.

In my opinion, the police officer did exactly what he should have done. What happens if he decides to wait for AAA and they don’t show up for two hours? Then, an already big mess becomes bigger and he’s to blame.

I also believe the tow company has every right to be compensated for showing up. She’s lucky they only charged her $60 (and even luckier to get the refund). The fact is that she was blocking traffic and AAA couldn’t guarantee an arrival time.

Basically, this woman inconvenienced a lot of people and utilized a lot of resources. Then she runs crying to ‘the advocate’ over $60. Of course, the TU manages to present it in a way that makes the police look bad. Why am I not surprised?

I know that Berdar’s garage and AAA are the same.Did AAA fail to get the call to his garage b4 the police call came in AND why the demeanor by the police.
Back in the day,you would have had help getting your car outta trouble and GOTTEN a ride home.Now,you risk a chance of being frisked because you didn’t shave in the AM
Cohoes PD,lighten up,you are not part of the CIA or any other groups that may be called upon to enforce other than occasional road kill removal.
Get back to being a CIVIL SERVANT and enjoy the population that PAYS YOUR SALARY

I would suggest that Ms. Donlon acquire a credit card and reserve it for any future automotive emergencies (believe me, this won’t be the last one she’ll have to deal with!). What if she had car trouble in an area where AAA couldn’t get to her right away? My parents hit a deer up in Keene a few years back and had to stay at an inn overnight because the tow truck couldn’t get up there at that time of the night. She really should have a credit card in case she finds herself in a similar situation.

I don’t know what the rules are now, but when I was a station attendant at the Guilderland Service Area back in the 1990′s, AAA wasn’t allowed to come on the Thruway, however if a AAA member had car trouble and needed to be towed (I think Bobar’s did the towing for that area) AAA would reimburse them for the expense. They probably would have done so in this situation as well (I’m guessing she doesn’t even have AAA if her mother-in-law called AAA on her behalf).

Since both tow trucks got there at approximately the same time it didn’t matter which one was called relative to blocking traffic because the same amount of traffic was blocked. As far as the charges are concerned maybe the cop should pay or the city of Cohoes. They had no business calling a tow truck when one had already been called. The situation had already been taken care of. Why should the motorist pay when she didn’t call for the service or ask anyone to call on her behalf?

In some cases AAA will reimburse their members if they can’t get a tow truck to a specific location in a timely fashion. That happened to me for a long distance tow to Oneonta. Had to argue with AAA a bit but finally got reimbursed.

@ #6 I agree people don’t realize there is a big difference between AAA towing and Police towing. As for the comments about Berdar’s being a AAA garage, Most garages have trucks for AAA and trucks for Police the trucks reserved for the policed do not and will not accept AAA. Police towing is normally more dangerous and requires a faster response, There was a good article in a towing magazine that explained the difference between AAA and police tows I am thinking maybe I should find it and send it to Ms. Woodruff.

Did anyone else notice her biased against the Police and tow company’s only one of the three story’s about towing that I have read from her had any merit at all and that was a sleazy tower basically stealing a car from the Plaza.

AAA always takes a long time, even when they are not busy, and during non-busy day time hours. AAA customer service is terrible and the customer service of many of their contracted tow companies is no better. When I changed my car insurance to USAA and abandoned AAA roadside service in favor of what is provided by USAA, I found I was much better off. The last time I needed my insurance carriers roadside assistance, it was about 10 minutes after I called when the tow truck arrived. When I used AAA under basically the same conditions, it was never under an hour. My suggestion to the driver in this situation is this. Check to see what roadside assistance your insurance company offers. You might be glad you did and wish you had done so sooner.

Well, as someone who is very familiar with AAA, I’d like to clear up a few things…

1.) There are 2 clubs that service the Capital District. The area Ms. Donlon was in is covered by AAA Hudson Valley.

2.) Hudson Valley is notorious for having long arrival times regardless of weather condition or volume.

3.) Most police departments dislike AAA because they feel it takes too long. But the national standard for AAA dictates that they have 30 minutes to arrive.
4.) There is a rare occasion that service is not providable. Short of horrendous weather or major accident, there is almost always someone available, and it’s the job of AAA to keep the member informed to the status of the call.

5.) Ms. Donlon should not have had her mother-in-law call for her. AAA policy clearly states that the member must be with the vehicle at the time of service. Having a 3rd party call (especially to the Hudson Valley office) can cause unneeded delays and gaps in necessary information.

6.) If the contractor that the police department called was an AAA provider, there was no reason they should not have accepted her membership. I’ve never heard of a company having assigned trucks. If a contractor is contracted with AAA, then they are obligated to accept it if the membership is valid and the situation is within the rules of the membership.

7.) Correct, AAA dispatch centers are not permitted to send their contractors onto the NYS Thruway for a service call. BUT, almost every area of the NYS Thruway has a dual-contracted provider. And yes, if you do have to pay for your service on the NYS Thruway, you are encouraged to keep your receipt and apply for reimbursement.

8.) Most warranty program or insurance company roadside programs are very limited. While the annual “membership fee” may be less, you’ll more often than not have to pay overmilage fees if you go anywhere outside of their network, they rarely cover towing for accidents, and their selection process for choosing their providers can be a bit shady.

9.) It is very important to read your membership handbook when you receive it. It clearly outlines what your coverage is, as well as whom to contact and how.

10.) In the instance that the police department does call a tow truck for you prior to you contacting AAA, you can submit for reimbursement. Also, most police departments have the phone numbers for AAA and know who the contractors for that area are. Long story short, there is a lot of overlapping.

AAA isn’t perfect by any stretch, but Emergency Road Service is impeded by Non-Emergency calls. Such as people being stuck in their driveways because they neglected to properly clear them, calling because something sounds like it might be kind of wrong and they don’t “feel safe” driving the 5 miles to the garage, calling for flat tire changes because it kind of looks like it may be a little soft, and best of all, the ones who drove up that wonky unplowed side road in the dead of winter because they wanted to go skiing in the woods. If the volume of courtesy and convenience calls were decreased, those in real emergencies would be able to get the service that they need.

I am sorry #15 you are wrong. as a matter of fact AAA will not pay a contractor unless they themselves dispatch said contractor. So there for even if the police tow is a AAA contractor they cannot in fact accept AAA.

As a matter of fact, Karen, *leans in dramatically and whispers* they can. If they don’t, that’s something the member should complain to their local AAA Club about because it’s a AAA provider not providing adequate service to a AAA member.

As a matter of fact Hello, are you a contractor or an employee of AAA. Because my Fiance is a contractor and all contractors got a letter last year saying that AAA will only pay if they dispatch the contractor so again you are wrong. and I don’t think AAA should be accepted on a police tow two different worlds I should know I drove tow truck.

I really wish you’d stop saying that I’m “wrong” because I’m not. You may want to have your Fiance call his AAA affiliate to clear this up.

If a towing company is contracted by AAA there is no logical reason for them not to accept it, other than their own greed. Regardless of who called them, if an AAA contractor is presented with a VALID AAA membership for a call that fits the rules of AAA Road Service, there is absolutly no reason not to accept it.

I do however suggest that the responding facility call their AAA office to verify that the membership is in fact up to date, and that the situation is within the realm of their coverage.

And out of my own curiosity, what city does your Fiance work out of? You don’t have to tell me, of course, I’m just curious.